Euronext increases FastMatch stake amid lawsuit

Euronext has upped its stake in FastMatch as former chief executive files lawsuit claiming he was unfairly dismissed.

Pan-European exchange Euronext has increased its stake in FastMatch after facing a lawsuit from Dmitri Galinov, former chief executive of the FX spot market operator.

Euronext increased its stake by approximately 8% after purchasing shares from Galinov following his termination as part of a signed agreement. The latest acquisition brings the exchange group’s total interest in FastMatch to 97.3%.

The move follows news of Galinov’s decision to file a lawsuit against Euronext claiming he was fired under false pretenses and then denied millions of dollars as part of a ‘Machiavellian scheme’ orchestrated by the exchange operator.

According to reports, Galinov’s lawsuit alleges that he was unfairly dismissed after reporting ‘serious financial and ethical misconduct’ on the senior management team at Euronext.

“This baseless lawsuit is a transparent attempt by Mr. Galinov to retaliate against FastMatch. His termination for cause and the redemption of his shares was entirely justified based on several actions he took in clear violation of his employment agreement and Company policies and procedures,” a spokesperson from Euronext told The TRADE. 

“All employees of the Euronext family, including senior management, are expected to adhere to a high standard of professional conduct, consistent with the Company’s code of ethics. We are confident the facts and the law are on our side.”

Euronext acquired a majority stake in FastMatch in August last year in a $153 million deal as the exchange looked to expand its FX services and products. FastMatch were committed to the business with a 10% interest, but Galinov was dismissed as CEO in June 2018.

Kevin Wolf, US head of fixed income, currency and commodities at Euronext and member of the FastMatch board of directors was appointed to take over as CEO of FastMatch.

FastMatch was established in 2012 by Credit Suisse, where Galinov previously worked, and FXCM and currently provides access to large pools of spot FX liquidity to banks, non-bank market makers, broker-dealers, asset managers and hedge funds.

The business contributed €5.2 million to Euronext’s first quarter revenues this year, after the exchange group’s CEO, Stéphane Boujnah, told The TRADE that Euronext had been cross-selling the product into European markets with an increasing part of the business being rolled out to major European bank centres.

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